Overview
PLI was first highlighted as a strong candidate
for technology migration projects in the early part of 1990’s. COBOL was often
mentioned as a preferred target language because of its pervasiveness, its
compatibility with PLI and its strong market position.
Not much has changed and
for many current users of PLI, the urgency and desire to modernise their IT
estate and in the process migrate away from PLI has increased substantially. The
MigrationWare PLI conversion solution enables the automated conversion of PLI
applications into applications written in equivalent COBOL code with an
exceptionally high degree of accuracy.
The rapid conversion from PLI to COBOL
takes place with a high degree of automation ensuring cost efficient projects
with minimal risk. Once converted the code inherits all the benefits of
portability and extendibility provided by COBOL as well as the benefits provided
by the well represented body of third party vendors that supply application
understanding, productivity and deployment products targeting COBOL
applications.
The converted code is delivered entirely in source code with no
run-time dependencies reducing additional costs like licensing fees while at the
same time providing an open architecture enabling companies to undertake
technical developments in any chosen direction independent of third party
support.
Benefits
Automation provides the best mechanism for ensuring
standardisation of the converted COBOL code, predictability and efficiently in
the conversion process. In addition, MigrationWare tools are designed to
consider client requirements enabling customised outputs.
Any technology that is
past its maturity date suffers the common ailments associated with a diminishing skills base
a reduction in third-party and community support and ultimately increased costs
of ownership. When a technology reaches this stage, the only way of providing
continuity to the investments made in the development of systems that continue
to provide business with value, is to migrate the underlining technology to
technology that is either emerging or mature.
A migration to open technology
removes the inherent risk attached to the use of proprietary technology. Once
converted to open technology, technical decisions around the choice of platform,
database and mode of deployment can be taken in the interest of the business
without being subjugated to the will of the vendor.
The move to COBOL is
beneficial because of COBOL’s continued dominance of large scale application
systems development globally and the continued availability of skilled resources
as well and support within leading edge technical innovations and developments.
COBOL is without parallel in terms of its interoperability, portability and
scalability, as well as in the availability of third party tools to enhance
application understanding and productivity.
The converted code is designed to
execute efficiently and to facilitate future development and integration with
all technologies that support interoperability with COBOL.
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Key features
• Close
to 100 percent automatic translation.
• Automatically addressed the conversion
of embedded code such as IMS, CICS and IDMS.
• Automatically addresses the
conversion of intrinsic functions, replacing these with platform independent
supported alternatives.
• Supports deployment onto both EBCDIC and ASCII
environments
• No black boxes or run-time dependencies
• No license or
maintenance fees
Conversion execution MigrationWare can either perform the conversion on behalf
of the organisation or provide the solution to the client or a partner to
convert the code.
When MigrationWare performs the conversion, the PLI code is
delivered to MigrationWare.
The PLI applications are automatically converted
into clean compiling COBOL applications, which are then returned to the customer
for subsequent testing and implementation. Should any issues surface, which
require MigrationWare’s involvement, MigrationWare will remain active in a
support role throughout the testing phase.
Pricing
Each project is unique with
differing requirements volumes, schedules and deadlines. It is therefore usually
impossible to supply a fixed pricing structure.
A final quote is only provided
after initial interaction with the client and when MigrationWare has fully
understood the scope of the project and the client’s required involvement from
MigrationWare. |